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Walnut Grove resident earns Irving K. Barber scholarship

Kwantlen Polytechnic student Emily Haugen will now head to Austria to continue her studies
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Emily Haugen, a 23-year-old Walnut Grove resident is headed to Vienna, Austria to continue her studies after becoming one of the recipients of the Irving K. Barber scholarship.

Haugen is in her fourth year of her Bachelor of Business Administration in Marketing Management degree at Kwantlen Polytechnic University (KPU).

She previously applied for the scholarship, but said she was past over the first time around.

“I found out on the KPU website – they list different scholarships and lots of ways to fund exchanges. The application changed the second time I applied – you could submit everything online and there was more of a writing component involved,” Haugen said.

She also had another experience studying aboard to give her application more attention; Haugen spent a semester in Scotland in early 2018 at Edinburgh Napier University.

“I’m really happy I went there – I liked the environment but it really put me out of my comfort zone,” Haugen explained. “It was only my second time on a plane by myself and I was living alone in a whole different country.”

Along with Haugen’s UK experience, she volunteered with KPU’s orientation team, the Kwantlen Student Association, and served on the Cloverdale-Langley City constituency youth council to help in her community lead by former MP John Aldag – who also served as her scholarship reference.

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Last month, Haugen received an email telling her she would be one of the scholarship recipients – the only 2019 winner from Langley.

“It was pretty exciting to hear because they always have a lot of applicants,” Haugen said.

The Irving K. Barber BC Scholarship Society is administered by the Victoria Foundation. A record 50 B.C. students, including Haugen, were awarded the Premier’s International Scholarships for study in more than 20 different countries.

The scholarships are valued at between $6,000 and $10,000.

Haugen is now prepping for a semester furthering her business and marketing degree at FHWien University in Vienna next spring. She had plenty of advice to share to those who may be thinking of applying.

“Look into applications early and have your references ready,” Haugen explained. “It’s been the best experience of my career as a student so far. It was so worth it and it was expensive, but there is always funding if you look for it.”

Haugen expects to finish her degree in 2021 and hopes to work for a non-profit and use her degree for something positive in the world.

For more information on the Irving K. Barber scholarship, people can visit www.ikbbc.ca.

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Email: ryan.uytdewilligen@langleyadvancetimes.com

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